Broken frame at rear leaf spring/Flatbed build

Thanks man! After seeing what it would cost a shop to just weld the sleeves I decided to put that towards a couple welders and a plasma cutter and teach myself. I've always wanted a flatbed but was always intimidating by the whole project.

 

Damn good job!! After one gets a welder and knows how to use it, one almost feels invincible when it comes to truck repair LOL!!

 

Definitely true. I really wish I would have picked one up earlier. The equipment really does pay for itself depending on how much welding you do.

 

Decided to cut the rear at an angle to break up the lines. Since the wood sits a little above the angle I had to cut out some risers using my hypertherm 30xp. I wanted to be able to remove the wood slats and didn't want the side rails to lock in the wood.

I also used the plasma cutter to cut the rear at the appropriate angle. After cleaning up the edges with an angle grinder it was coming along.

 

I cut some more 4" angle to wrap around the corners. I had to take off an inch on the top portion so the lines mat up. The plasma cutter and a straight edge made quick work. I wasn't able to weld tonight as it was getting a little late and running the Trailblazer 302 to power the Miller wire feed gets a little loud and I'm already beyond the typical work done in a heavily populated neighborhood. Want to play nice with the neighbors.

I'm glad I angled the tail. It looks a lot better.

 

Welds made and grounded down the joints. I'm really digging how it turned out. Looks much better with than a straight back end. Now to tackle the rear bumper.

 

Rear bumper is coming along. Tacked in some 1"x3" square tube at an angle and mocked up some 2.5" x 2.5" square tube just see how it looks and make sure my supports are level.

 

Welded up a back plate and got some lights mounted up today.

 

Also invested in a tube bender from Rogue fab that I finished welding up that I'll be using for the roll bar that I'll start tomorrow. I've never bent tube so it'll be a learning experience.

 

Wow, those look nicer than I'd expected! Any more photos of them? What gauge/thickness are they?

 

Here's the link to where you can find more info.

https://www.autorust.com/safe-t-cap-kits/

At the recommendation of my buddy that's a welder a cut S curves where the vertical lines were to maximize the surface area of the weld and to minimize the flex points of the frame. The thickness of the sleeves are a thicker gauge than the frame.

 

Drilled some 2.25" holes in the sides to install some marker lights from superbrightleds.com

 

Good a little bit more work done today after work. Welded some square tube supports for the rear bumper. Also tack welded some shackle mounts. I grinded the edges of the mounts to get more welding surface for a stronger mount.

 

Finished welding up the shackle mounts from Spyder. There's 2 on each side and 2 in the back so I should have plenty of tie down and recovery points.

 

Finally got the roll bar done! It's 2 OD .250 wall so it's not going anywhere. I could roll this thing down a mountian and be ok.

Since I've never bent tube before I messed up 2 tube sections and actually messed up this one. I was 2 inches short so I put in a 12 inch 1.5 OD solid stock, and plug welded it in there in 6 places, welded up the sections and took a flap disc and sanded it all down. I realised what I did but each tube section is about $200. The plus side is I have plenty of tube stock for gussets and braces.

 

I used some of the 1.5 solid stock for posts for the roll bar.

 

The roll bar is a tight fit. Also welded in a cross brace. Tube notching 2 OD was a pain since I'm still learning but it fits. Tacked it in there for now.

 

Sweet build man

 

Epic fabrication skills for sure. Any idea of how much all that steel weighs vs stock bed?

 

Man, you are doing a great job! I think that spring breaking loose was the best thing to ever happen to you. Talk about finding a silver lining, you did it.

I think you could get by with a little thinner steel. Remember you frame is a little under 3mm thick, so with decent design (which you have) you don't have to go real thick. You may need to add spring helpers or just go heavier than stock on the springs. Maybe you already had planned that and I missed it.

Anyway, awesome job. Keep posting the pics.